Bangus or Milkfish Cultivation Systems in the Philippines

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onion, tomatoes, rice washing and bagoong), rellenong bangus (formerly a party dish; now available even in school cafeterias), and bangus lumpia. Also known as milkfish, bangus (scientific name: Chanos chanos) is most closely related to carps and catfishes. It occurs in the Indian Ocean and across the Pacific Ocean, tending to school around coasts and islands with reefs. A warm water species, it prefers water temperatures between 20-33 degrees Centigrade. In the Philippines, bangus can be raised anywhere. However, the top bangus producing provinces are Bulacan, Pangasinan, Capiz, Iloilo, and Negros Occidental. The most recent report released by the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics (BAS) show that the combined production of these five provinces alone accounts for more than 50 percent of the country’s total production. Raising bangus can be done employing different production systems in freshwater and in brackishwater. “Depending on the available resources and level of management, the culture methods can vary from the traditional or extensive system, the modular or semi-intensive to the intensive system,” according to Milkfish: A Basic Domestic Need Commodity, a primer published by PCAMRD. The semi-intensive system is an improvement of the traditional system where fingerlings are stocked at a higher density. With natural and artificial feeds, bangus fingerlings are stocked at densities of 6,000 to 12,000 per hectare. With dependence on natural food in the traditional system, low stocking densities of 1,000 to 3,000 fingerlings per hectare are applied. In this method, the culture period is longer thus allowing only one or two croppings a year. The modular pond system, on the other hand, allows a continuous operation and makes possible four to six croppings per year. To make fishponds and fish cages productive throughout the year, adequate supply of bangus fingerlings is necessary. “Historically, milkfish fry abound in the country, especially during the fry season in the months of April to October,” the PCAMRD primer reports. “During recent years, the number collected has been dwindling.”
Farmed fingerlings are preferred to wild catch. Among the causes cited for the diminishing supply of bangus fry were destruction of natural habitats brought about by the extensive conversion of mangrove areas to fishponds, destructive fishing methods and environmental degradation, among others. “With the decrease in seed supply, the cost of fry and fingerlings has increased significantly over the years,” the primer said. To save the bangus industry from downfall, some have imported fingerlings from Taiwan and Indonesia; although others thought this option was not practical as the fry were very expensive. Enter Finfish Hatcheries, Inc. (FHI), which selling bangus fry and fingerlings, among others. “We have been in the bangus fry production business since 1997,” says Rene B. Bocaya, FHI’s national marketing manager. According to Bocaya, the price per piece of wild bangus fry was P1.00 a decade or so ago. “With the introduction to the market of hatchery produced fry (local and imported), the price now ranges from thirty to forty-five centavos per piece only. The hatchery-produced fry doesn’t only give very big savings to the fishpond operators, but it also provides them good quality and steady supply throughout the year.” As a result of steady supply of bangus in the market, there are now processing plants for bangus valueadded products. The foreign exchange earnings from bangus exports has been reported to be about US$15 million.
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Bangus or Milkfish Cultivation Systems in the Philippines

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